Faith Reflections

Rembrandt: Detail from Jeremiah Mourning Over the Destruction of Jerusalem

Jesus spent time reflecting on the prophecy of Jeremiah. Let us also spend some time with some of the prophet’s words so that they might bring us to the understanding that . . .

Life is a process. It is a long and slow birth. God is the midwife. We are the babe.

Let us remember that there is much in the life of Jeremiah that reminds us of ourselves. We are not finished products. We are constantly in progress; we are itinerate and evolving. We continually seek, ask and knock. We endlessly forget and re-remember why we are here, who we are, what we are about, how we are to act, why we are to act and when we are to act. We constantly seek our mission, our purpose, our guideposts, our mantras, our source and our ending. We are humans, struggling to be divine. We are spirits struggling to live in our human form. We are children calling on the parent. We are wanderers and questioners. We search for union which is perfect, intimacy which does not deceive, fidelity which knows no end, truth which is honest, and love which abides and endures. We wander in darkness and seek a great light. We are constantly birthing ourselves, re-making ourselves, re-doing, un-doing, over-doing . . . and in all of this great doing we must remember to include God as the midwife. For without God there is nothing. And God alone is enough.

Life is a process. It is a long and slow birth. God is the midwife. We are the babe.

The words of Jeremiah, wrought with such intense and unrelenting struggle, are important for every human . . . because none of us is perfected . . . yet we strive and strain for perfection. This is good for it is what we should be about. It is with this work that we best consume our days rather than the petty in-fights and gossip which might easily fill so many hours. We hear and see and feel all of this in Jeremiah.

When we are in crisis as Jeremiah is in chapter 20 verse 10 we might rail against God as he does when he cries out, You duped me, O Lord, and I let myself be duped; you were too strong for me and you triumphed. All the day I am an object of laughter; everyone mocks me.

We might also feel the terror on every side which he senses in Chapter 6 verse 25.

Yet if we listen, watch, wait and witness, we will also hear the voice speak in our in-most soul as Jeremiah does in 29:11-15 when he hears the words . . . I know well the plans I have in mind for you . . . plans for your welfare, not your woe! When you call me, when you pray to me, I will listen to you. When you look for me you will find me. Yes, when you seek me with all your heart, you will find me with you, says the Lord, and I will change your lot; I will gather you together from all the nations and all the places to which I have banished you, says the Lord, and bring you back to the place from which I have exiled you.

We will remember the new covenant which Jeremiah foretells in 31:31 and 33: The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant . . . I will write my law within them, and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they will be my people.

And finally in Jeremiah 42:10-11 we will hear these words: If you remain quietly in this land I will build you up, and not tear you down; I will plant you, not uproot you; for I regret the evil I have done you. Do not fear the king of Babylon before whom you are now afraid; do not fear him, says the Lord, for I am with you to save you, to rescue you from his power.

When we wander into Babylon as we move through our journey here on earth, our God will be with us always. When we think that we might go off to Egypt in order to avoid a cross we are called to bear, our Lord will remind us that he is beside us to help us to carry our burden forever.

When we miss-step, stray or forget, God will call, restore and renew. We have only to turn, return, be still . . . and know that God is with us . . . always . . . forever. Life is a process. It is a long and slow birth. God is the midwife. We are the babe. Amen!